Churn.



' Patented Oct. 10, I899.

F. V. FDULKE.

CHURN.

(Applicltiml. filed Dec. 27,1998. (N0 Modal.)

m u llllllflm b R i k I WITNESSES." M/VENTUR Earp? Zf.%aZ e. r

' ATTORNEY.

a an: m. mom-um wnsm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE.

FRANK v. FOULKE, on ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, Assio Non, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO JOHN D.

FOULKE, OF SAME PLACE.

WV. SWENDSEN AND LUTHER II.

V CHURN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,553, dated October10,1899. Application sea Data; 27, 1898. 8.51.1 na'vooAsv. (No model.)

nia, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in MechanismforChurning and Aerating Liquids; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and enact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to Whichit appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference marked thereon, forming part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for churning andaerating liquids; and it consists, substantially, in the construction ofan agitator on the lower end of a hollow vertical shaft, driven bysuitable gearing, the wings of the agitator being made of inner andouter shells joined at their front edges, so as to leave chamberstherein opening backward, the lower ends of which chamberscommunicatethrough like chambered radial arms communicating with the opening in thelower end of the hollowshaft. The wings of the' agitator are also soinclined that the rotation of the" agitator operates to throw away thefluid radially and'upward from the central portion of the bottom of thereceptacle in which it operates, sons .to produce a partial vacuum atthat point into which air passes down through the hollow vertical shaftand out through the chambers in the radial arms and wings of theagitator, so as to be distributed through the fluid in which theagitator is operated, thereby thoroughly aerating it.

In the drawings, Figure l .is an end view in elevation of my machine.Fig. 2 is a side View of the same, partly in elevation and partly insection. Fig. 3 isa top view of the fluid-receptacle of my machine,showing the removable deflectors in place therein. Fig. 4: is a sideView of the agitator removed from the shaft. Fig. 5 is a view of thelower end of the agitator looking upward. Fig. 6 is a plan view of theupper end of the hollow shaft, showing the screened cap thereof. Fig. 7is a sectional view of the upper end of the hollow shaft and thescreened cap thereon.

In the drawings thus illustrating my invention, A is the base, which isprovided with feet a a at itsfront end and is secured at its rearend inan upright frame B, provided with feet 17. In this upright frame B thereis a gearwheel O mounted, the bearing 0 thereof being adjustable up anddown in a slot b in the upright B, so as to admit of the use ofdifferent-sized gearwheels 0. This gearwheel 0 is also provided with aremovable handle 0 for turning it by hand, and it is also provided withapulley C on the hub thereof, so that it can be operated by means of abelt, if desired.

From the front side of the upright B two arms D D extend forward overthe base'A and are joined near their outer ends by a transverse piece Dand in bearings d d in the upper end of the uprightB and the crosspieceD there is'mounted a shaft E, having a spur-gear e on its rear endintermeshing with the gear-wheel'G and on its front end a,

bevel-gear c. In the outer ends of the arms D D there are bearings 61 62in which a vertical hollow shaft F is mounted and rotates, and: on Ithelshaft-F there is a bevel-gear f, which'inte'rmesh'es with the bevel-geare on the shaftE; On this bevel-gear f there is a sleeve f, the lower endof which rests upon the top of the bearingd and in this sleeve there isa set-screw f by means whereof the bevel-gear f and its collar f can besecured to the shaft F, the shaft F being thereby adapted to be adjustedup and down and secured at any heightdesired. Upon the: top of the shaftFthere is a removable screened cap f to prevent dirt from passing downthrough the hollow shaft F. Upon the lower end of the shaft F there isremovably secured an agitator constructed of a vertical hollow tube G,open at the lower end and adapted to telescope over the shaft F and besecured in place thereon by means of a transverse pin 9 passing throughholes in the sleeve and shaft. To this tube G there are secured,

preferably, three wings H, secured at their upper ends equidistant fromeach other to the tube G and at their lowerends to radial arms I,extending outward from the lower end of the tube G. The wings II, I makeof .of the arrows in Fig. 3.

two plates h and h, joined at their front edges and open at the rear, soas to form chambers 7L2 therein, extending from the top to the bottomthereof. The radial arms I are also constructed in like manner of upperplates 1' and lower plates 1'', being joined at their front edges andopen at the rear, the inner ends of the lower. plates c" extendingpartially under the open end of the tube G, so as to form chambers orpassages extending from the opening in the lower end of the tube G toand into the lower ends of the chambers 71, in the Wings 11, so that airpassing down the hollow shaft F and tube G during the rotation of theagitator passes out through the chambered arms I and up into thechambers 71 in the wings H and is dis tributed from the rears of saidchambers into the fluid being agitated thereby. The outer ends of theradial arms I and the lower ends of the wings H are joined by braces J,adapted to hold them firmly against the strain exerted thereon when theagitator is being rapidly rotated in fluid.

The receptacle within which the agitator operates is an ordinarycircular vessel K, which stands upon the base A, concentric with theshaft F, and is adapted to be removed when the shaft and agitator areraised. It is also provided with a removable cover L, divided intohalves and recessed to fit around the shaft F. In the receptacle K areplaced two or more curved deflectors M, provided at their upper ends, ontheir inner edges, with arms m, adapted to extend to and hook over theupper edges of the top of the receptacle K, and the outer edges of theupper ends of the deflectors are also provided with hooks m, adapted tohook over the edge of the top of the receptacle, while at the bottoms ofthe deflectors there are secured triangular braces m adapted to engagethe inner surface of the receptacle and prevent the backward movementthereof, so that the braces on and m and the hooks m hold the deflectorsM in place. These deflectors M are cut away at their inner lower cornersto allow room for the operation of the agitator, and are also perforatedwith holes m through which a portion of the fluid in the receptaclepasses when the agitator is being revolved in the direction For emptyingthe receptacle K a nipple is provided near the bottom thereof, on whicha hose 7c is placed, the outer end of which can be raised, asillustratedin Figs. 1 and 2, to prevent the fluid from escaping from the receptacleK.

In operation the fluid to be aerated is placed in the receptacle K andthe deflectors M placed therein.' The shaft F and the deflectors arethen lowered into the fluid until the bottom of the deflector isadjacent to the bottom of the receptacle K. The cover L being then putinto place, the agitator is rapidly revolved in the direction shown bythe arrows in Fig. 3 by means of the gear-wheel O. This operates toproduce a partial vacuum under and within the wings of the agitator,which operates to draw a strong current of air down through the hollowshaft F and the tube G, the greater portion of which passes out into thechambers in the radial arms I and a portion thereof up into the chambersin the wings H, and is thereby distributed through the fluid, which isalso driven against the curved deflectors M, a portion thereof passingthrough the holes on therein and the balance passing the inner lowercorners of the deflectors M and by this means becomes thoroughlyintermixed and aerated.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that all of the partsof the machine coming into contact with the fluid can be speedilyremoved and cleaned without seriously disturbing the mechanism of themachine.

Having thus described myinvention, so as to enable others to constructand operate the same, what I claim as new, and desire to se cure byLetters Patent of the United States, is

The combination, with a vessel for holding liquid; of an agitatorcomprising a tubular shaft, radial arms I V-shaped in cross-section andsecured to and projecting under the lower end of the said shaft, andspirally-arranged wings I-I V-shaped in cross-section and having theirends secured to the said shaft and to the free end portions of the saidarms, the grooves in the said wings and arms forming air-passages andbeing in communication with the said tubular shaft; and means forrotating the said agitator in the said vessel, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK V. FOULKE.

\Vitnesses:

L. H. FOULKE, II. :TJOURTZE.

